Top Law Schools

How much does work experience matter in the admission process

WORK...EXPERIENCE

(what is it good for)

ABSOLUTElY NOTHING!

unless you want to go to Northwestern or had some crazy job like testing the firmness of Kate Upton's rack.

Possible tiebreaker.

I hear H likes it too, as well as Northwestern.

Although work experience does not help in the law school admission process, it definitely helps you in the interviewing and recruitment process.

El_Sol wrote:Although work experience does not help in the law school admission process, it definitely helps you in the interviewing and recruitment process.

This is very true.

Based on LSN trends, I'd say work experience does matter for H and S (not so much Y, ironically), and obviously NU. That aside, however, professional work experience will certainly help come interview time, regardless of what school you go to.

How much work experience do you guys think is necessary to be competitive in the recruiting process? Or at least, how much would you recommend?

PowderedWater wrote:How much work experience do you guys think is necessary to be competitive in the recruiting process? Or at least, how much would you recommend?

Two years in a real job (not just "would you like fries with that?")

I would say one year. Business-related, like finance, is better I think.

spleenworship wrote:

PowderedWater wrote:How much work experience do you guys think is necessary to be competitive in the recruiting process? Or at least, how much would you recommend?

Two years in a real job (not just "would you like fries with that?")

Two years at a substantive job would be good. If it is relevant to the field of law you want to practice, even better. I feel that one year at a job doesn't really help as much because you will only be getting up to speed half a year in, and you won't really take on any big responsibility or make good connections in one year.

It depends. Were you on the Navy SEAL team that nailed OBL? Were you an astronaut and just want to do LS because the shuttle program is no more and NASA is laying off? Is your name Mark Zuckenburg or Bill Gates or Peter Lik?

I know these are extreme examples but not necessarily hyperbole. There are some applicants that have WE that does actually make a difference in admissions. The conventional wisdom is that it won't help that much except at a few selected schools when it comes to admissions but will help when it comes to actually getting a job.

It certainly won't hurt though since it was a real job.

What about if one worked in a Blue Chip Company (i.e: along the lines of Morgan Stanley, UBS, etc.)

I would say it depends on the school and your numbers. I had an atrocious 2.35 GPA with a 162 LSAT, I feel I got into schools in the top 50 only because I have 5 years professional experience, 2 of which spent negotiating the terms of software contracts. If you have work experience leverage it as much as possible. Have it shown by getting a letter of rec from employer. Talk about professional successes/situations in your personal statement.

I can't speak to the gross effect on the admissions process in general, it would be mere speculation. I do believe that it helped me. I don't think law schools are as thrilled with the average college grad with a degree in poli-sci and a internship that was basically glorified summer camp. Of course, if your numbers are stellar I don't think it matters.

My experience is that it didn't seem To make any difference at my reach schools and my work experience is probably in the top 1% of this board (in terms of impressiveness, not longevity)

For me, WE was a complete game changer in my application cycle but I am also a rather extreme nontraditional in both WE and age.

YMMV

El_Sol wrote:I would say one year. Business-related, like finance, is better I think.

One year work experience itself enough....